A Northwest Gem

E.B. White wrote a an essay after Charles Lindbergh’s successful flight across the Atlantic on the spirit of Me-Too-ism - the tendancy of individuals to claim some share of the success of another persons accomplishments.  Suddenly it was because of the Goodyear tires and Quaker oil that Lindbergh was able to accomplish his heroic flight.  With that in mind, I still have to admit that I was excited to see a huge, three page layout in the Sunday Oregonian that praised the accomplishment of artist Lucinda Parker upon her execution of a huge 10 foot by 40 foot painting commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission for the new performing arts center at the Lower Columbia College in Longview.   The reason for my excitement?  Well, it was because I sold her the canvas it was painted on!  Now, trust me, I take no credit for this tremendous work of art, but it is difficult not to want to crow - “hey, that’s our canvas!”  That Ms. Parker could create such a monumental work is a wonder in and of itself, considering that she herself is only about half as tall as the painting.  The work’s title, “Where Water Comes Together with Other Water” touches upon the theme of confluence, which many Portland artists have been thinking about lately.  This is, perhaps, Portland’s best contribution to the arts right now, the idea that here, things can come together, and that together we may solve some of our common challenges.  I encourge you to take a look at the full article in the Oregonian, written by D.K. Row.  Unfortunately the online article does not reproduce the terrific photos by Benjamin Brink, but they are in the January 6th Sunday publication.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 1:18 pm and is filed under General, Local Art Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.